Extractive industries

We face a planetary emergency. Communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change. We in Europe must do our fair share to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. For Europe, this means a fair and urgent transition to a fossil-free energy system by 2030. This booklet outlines what we need to do to bring about a safe and clean Europe, free from fossil fuels.

“MidCat”, the Midi-Catalunya pipeline, is a highly controversial gas infrastructure project between France and Spain. Energy corporations Enagás and Teréga have been promoting its construction since 2005, and in 2013 the European Commission added the project to its PCI list (Projects of Common Interest).

As negotiations on new laws governing our energy future until 2030 pick up speed, it's time to look at what this will mean for people and planet. In this briefing, we outline the way forward for an energy transition that would benefit all, moving away from fossil fuels, protecting workers' livelihoods, tackling energy poverty, and unleashing the potential of people-owned renewable projects. The only question is: will EU Member States choose this path?

Despite multiple climate action commitments the EU budget and European public banks continue to finance fossil fuel production and consumption across the EU and internationally.

This study shows the scale of the problem with the EU providing an annual average of €4bn in fossil fuel subsidies through its budget, development and investment banks and funds. The growing support for gas, and the continued provision of support for coal-fired power, are particularly concerning.

This briefing is released ahead of the EU Informal Energy Council in Valletta, Malta. It sets out the way forward the EU's Clean Energy Package as part of the transformation of Europe's energy system away from fossil fuels.

The contents include climate science, the benefits of people's ownership, energy savings, why gas is not part of the solution, and specific demands to Members States.

The depth of gas industry infiltration into European decision-making on energy policy is revealed in this report. The report outlines the role of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) in defining the future of Europe's energy policy – a group established by the European Commission but made up exclusively of gas industry interests, including major gas and oil companies such as Engie, Enagas and OMV.

This short briefing shows how gas companies are justifying unnecessary gas infrastructure by inflating gas demand figures in Europe. Energy efficiency will significantly reduce gas demand, and the European Commission must ignore the gas lobby figures.

In January, the Canadian company TransCanada announced its plan to sue the US government for more than US$15 billion under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – following the Obama Administration's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline: one of the most notorious and reviled proposed fossil fuel projects worldwide.